State of the art hospital operating rooms now contain a wide variety of audio, visual and technology tools, such as video cameras, video recorders, microphones and voice recorders, video guided ultrasound imaging systems, lasers, cytoscanners, etc. With delicate surgery for example, a 3D video camera may be placed in or above the surgical area of the patient. The image from the camera is then transmitted to a large display, such as a flat panel, so that the operating doctor and medical staff can see an enlarged visual of the surgical area. The enlarged image makes it easier for the doctor to perform the surgery compared to relying on the naked eye.
To accommodate all the audio, visual and medical equipment, many operating rooms have been built or retrofitted to include one or more booms suspended from the ceiling. The audio and visual equipment is then hung from the booms over the operating table. There are a number of problems, however, associated with using booms suspended from the ceiling. Most hospitals were built before many of the medical procedures commonly used today that require the use of the above described audio and visual equipment. As a result, operating rooms were not built with the requisite ceiling booms to suspend the equipment. Rather, the operating rooms have been retrofitted to install the ceiling booms. The retrofit process, however, is very complicated and expensive. Often an architect is required to draw up the plans and to provide structural engineering services. The plans are then submitted to the local building department for review. After the plans are approved, the operating room is shut down, and construction begins. The retrofit typically involves structurally reinforcing the ceiling prior to installing the booms and equipment. In addition, other trades, such as electricians, are need to upgrade the electrical power and lighting systems. A retrofit project will therefore take at least several months and cost well into the six figure dollar amount. Since the operating room can not be used during the construction, the retrofit process also results in a significant loss of revenue for the hospital. With newer hospitals, the cost and expense of designing and implementing the boom system from the ceiling during construction is also considerable.
A stationary medical boom that can be readily installed on the floor of an existing operating room, resulting in less down time, and that has one or more articulated arms used to position video and medical equipment 360 degrees around the operating table in an operating room and is capable of providing a universal connection point for needed services in the operating room, is therefore needed.